My First Full Frame, and It's Compact

I have to say Sony still has some innovation power in its products, at least in digital camera space (not a fan of its smartphones though). Its release of the first full frame compact camera, RX1 really tempts me. It took me quite some struggling to choose between a normal full frame (e.g. Nikon D600, Canon 6D, etc.) and this one. But considering about that I'll use the camera mainly for travel and casual outings, I finally settled with my decision on this small camera.  

Stock has been really limited with this camera due to low supply and short period of release. I was lucky enough to grab one on this very Friday night as I am going on trip tomorrow. So it is just in time to capture some great moments and also good time to test out the camera's capability. In this post, there are mostly some unboxing photos and my first impression on this tiny camera.

I would say the package design is rather normal. Nothing much stunning is seen from the exterior of it. And I believe Sony should be able to do better with a camera selling at such a premium price (I was expecting something like NEX-7's package).

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Windows 8: the Next Vista?

The release of Windows 8 was highly anticipated this year. It is given the mission that it's gonna stand up front and challenge the fast rising iOS and Android, and of course the new era of tablets. However, so far Windows 8 seems not bringing any glory back to Microsoft yet. 

I've tried Windows 8 before, not for a long time though. I have to say that Microsoft has put enormous amount of effort in this piece of work. The new UI is fantastic, and not only that, if you click those widgets like weather, news, mails, etc. They are actually put in a very nice layout with rich content. The awkward part is that clearly it is designed for touch interface. Using a mouse to scroll and click just doesn't feel natural. 

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500px - Showcase Your Photo Online

Call me too old-fashioned or out of date or whatever, I haven't tried 500px out until yesterday though I came across this name a couple of times. Judging by the name, I thought "nah, it's just another photo-sharing website". It is, but it is much more than that, and much better than I thought. 

I have been using flickr for some time, but as an average user who doesn't log on frequently. Anyone who has used Flickr before should have known how it looks like: almost same old layout as 5 years ago (that's like half a century in technology), and I always get confused by the difference of sets and galleries and the UI is simply messy. It's probably because I am not a frequent user so that I don't find it handy. But that's how I feel when I see the website. 

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This Apple Isn't Golden After All

Source: Yahoo Finance - http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/AAPL:US/chart/

Ever since it hit the $700 per share earlier this year, Apple, Inc. has seen some sharp fall in its share price. As the US market closed on Friday, 7 Dec 2012, its share price is quoted as $533.25. That is a massive 24% decline in the market capitalization or $157 billion equivalent, and it was within 3 months. Taking a more distant perspective, say 5 year horizon, it could still be deemed as a hiccup considering its share price has tripled over the period. But it is interesting and worthwhile to try to understand the reasons behind the scene.

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Sound and Look Cool - Beats Solo HD

To be honest, I am not a huge fan of earphones, headphones or any audio equipment. To me, it doesn't seem too attractive to spend a few hundred bucks just to feel that the sound is more pleasing or detailed or whatever. As long as I could wear them comfortably and the sound quality isn't terribly bad, I wouldn't want to upgrade my audio gears. 

Besides the iPhone original earphones (many audio fans may give a sarcastic smile here) and ATH FC700, I don't have much experience and say in this category. so this post is really mainly about my very personal thoughts and experience with the Beats Solo HD. 

Why do I get this in the first place? Reason could be three:

1. The look itself. Probably this is too shallow, but yeah. Beats' marketing is just too good. You could see celebrities wear them on the newspapers, magazines and websites. It's fashionablly unique and iconic. A few brands were trying to imitate that but didn't seem very successful. 

2. It meets my need well. There are indeed, in terms of sound quality, better beats headphones such as Beats Studio. However, it is just too bulky for me and I don't really find it comfortable when wearing that, especially for long time. The noise cancelling is a great feature on Beats Studio. But it also brings the trouble that when it's running out of battery, you have to replace the batteries before you can enjoy your music again, which is kind of stupid. So I opted down for better simplicity and I suppose the sound quality is good enough for me.

3. Cheaper price in UK! Beats headphones are not cheap at all. At the same price, you may find better alternatives from other competitors such as ATH, Sennheiser and Bose. But let's just consider ourselves are paying the premium for the look. Remember after all we are living in a world of attention. In Singapore, the beats headphones are even more insanely priced. That's why I bought them when I was in London. I just couldn't resist it.

Enough talk on my decision-making process, let's check out the headphones!

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The Good and Bad About iPhone 5

It didn't take me much time to decide to get an iPhone 5 after the frustration that Android has brought me: system is laggy and irresponsive, battery is draining fast, and the Android apps just don't work well. 

I got my iPhone 5 on Monday, as soon as I came back in Singapore. Having been using the phone for the past 5 days, all I want to say is that it is simply amazing and such a delight to use. But nothing is perfect, here are some things I listed that might be useful for you to consider buying an iPhone 5. For all the relevant specifications, I am sure you'll be able to find them online easily.

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iPad Mini - A Brief Comparison to Kindle Fire and iPad 2

 

I now have three tablets in hand after my recent purchase of iPad mini. Kindle Fire and iPad 2 have served their purpose well. However, iPad mini eventually combined the strength of the two other tablets. This blog is about a brief comparison between the three tablets, which hopefully can give you an idea what tablet you are looking for. 

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How I Met My iPad mini

iPad mini is definitely the buzz word in the technology industry this week. Though the launch wasn't as overwhelming as the other Apple products, it still has attracted hard-core fans without too much convincing.

To be honest, I wasn't planning to get my iPad mini in London. The price is still cheaper back in Singapore even after the 10% plus tax refund. I was also keener on the 4G models rather than a WiFi only version because judging by the smaller size than an iPad, I could surf the internet and connect with the world on the go (and this is where the wow factor comes in). But still, I got it here… Why? I guess it's because of the Apple Store experience.

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Sony NEX E50 1.8 First Impression

It has been hell long time since my last update. I was back in China for the last four months and had no access to the blogger..Anyway, it's always good to be back in Singapore and this blog too! Today I am bringing some fresh content here!

I just got a Sony E-mount lens 50mm F1.8 a few days ago. The reason that I bought this is that I need a good lens for taking the portrait. The large aperture makes the subject more outstanding and also allows faster shutter speed in the low light without increasing the ISO. 

Here are some of my thoughts on this lens. 

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Shoot Your Photo Wide! - Sony VCL-ECU1 Ultra-Wide Converter

My previous blog (Sony NEX-5N First Impression) has given an introduction on this lens converter - Sony VCL-ECU1. Here is a more detailed post on this lens converter show what this converter is capable of. 

First, this converter is suitable only for E-mount 16mm F2.8. There are reviews on other websites saying that it is also compatible with Panasonic M4/3 lens 14mm F2.5. I can't test this out since I don't have the lens around. The converter has a multiply factor 0.75x, that is, focal length of 16mm will be converted to 12mm after mounting. 

Some may not know how much wider 12mm is compared to 16mm, and 18mm end of the kit lens 18-55mm. I have taken two examples so you may see the difference. 

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Sony NEX-5N First Impression

Last Friday I got my new toy, Sony NEX-5N and I must admit it's an impulsive purchase but it turns out to be good. :)

For all this time, I have been waiting for the new Olympus OM-D EM5 to come, of course the silver set since it has a more retro look. I never really laid my eyes on NEX series since it is of much more modern look and it lacks of physical controls. (NEX-7 has but it's way more expensive).

On another day, I was accompanying a good friend of mine to get a NEX-7. I was impressed by the small camera, it looks good in design and feels solid in hand. So I went back home and researched a bit on the Internet. NEX-5N seems a fit for my purposes. I have been looking for a wide/ultra-wide lens to bring along my summer trip. In the M43 system, the Olympus prime 12mm F2.0 is simply way too expensive and others like 9-18mm and 7-14mm from Panasonic are also not something affordable.

It happens that the Sony E-mount has the 16mm F2.8 pancake lens and it's much cheaper. S$299 on the Sony website, even lower when you get it from a camera shop. In addition, the price difference between NEX-5N single lens kit (18-55mm) and double lens kit (18-55mm & 16mm) is only S$100. So it looks like buying the double lens kit is the best deal and I went for it. 

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Get Your Fair Skin Using Lightroom

It has been quite a while since I posted my last blog. I have been busy with school projects and presentations. Finally I got some time to write this new blog. Anyway, today I am writing on how I usually retouch skin in the post process. It might not be the best technique out there. But at least it does help to make you look better :)

Here is an example how to do this. My friend is very kind to let me put her picture here as an example. Thanks very much! (For sure nobody wants to see my face here :p)

↑First step is to open your Lightroom and go to the picture you want to edit and click "Develop" to bring you to the interface. As you can see, there are a few skin imperfections and our goal is to try to minimize or remove those. So first click the spot removal tool. You could adjust the size of the tool and its opacity. It's very much like the clone tool in Photoshop, so do not use the tool of too big size as the outcome may not be very smooth.

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Facebook Bought Instagram at $1 Billion !?

The very famous iOS photography app Instagram just expanded its territory to Android a week ago. Today Facebook announced that it will buy over Instagram at ONE BILLION US dollars in cash and stocks (link).

*Photo from Newspress.me

That might be a surprise to most of us. Why would Facebook acquire Instagram, and at such an unbelievable price?

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Selling Your Used Gears Online - Tips That You Should Know

 

The update of gadgets is getting really fast nowadays. Popular products like iPhone and iPad, get their update once a year. Some other phones or cameras are even updated once in 9 months or even shorter! Tech geeks like me probably feel hard to resist the attraction of the latest products. Then how about the toys in hand? Of course we should sell them, and salvage some money as the fund of purchasing new gears.

Selling things online would be the most convenient way but it sometimes may be frustrating as well due to various reasons and it is also interesting to know how we can get the most salvage value from our used gears. Today I am going to share some tips here when selling your gears online.

Tip 1 Sell your gear at the right time to get the most value.

As the majority of us tends to buy the latest products, so it is easier to sell your item at a higher price if the newer version is not released yet. If you know that the updated gadgets will be launched soon, sell your item fast. Otherwise, it depreciates sharply after the launch of new products and many users will sell similar products as well, which makes your item even less worthy.

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Step into the DSLR World - Are You Ready?

*Photo from Pixelbing.com

Unlike 10 years ago, cameras now are very affordable. Almost every friend of mine has a camera today, if not, at least a phone with camera. The interesting thing I noticed when I was traveling is that more people are using DSLR now, whether they really appreciate it or not. Many of my friends are also considering upgrading their gears to DSLR. Here I am giving some advices on getting a DSLR. This blog is more about prepare yourself to buy a DSLR than how to use it. Hope you will find it useful when making a purchase decision.

Before buying a DSLR, ask yourself a question. Are you really passionate about photography? Passionate here I mean is you will go out and travel around for the sake of taking photos. Probably you will do this in the first few weeks when you get a new camera, but will this last long? Or most likely your excitement will be consumed by the overwhelming number of functions and settings. If you do not use the camera that much, then just stick to whatever you have now, P&S cameras are good enough in most cases.

Okay, if you love taking photos, then ask again what is your purpose. It could be just photos of casual outings with friends, or more serious tasks such as landscape, wildlife, sports, portrait and many more. Different DSLRs have strengths in different fields, but most of them are suitable for all use if your requirement is not that extreme.

Next, when you are choosing a DSLR for yourself, what should you look for? There are usually some common myths for the beginners.

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Are You Getting the New iPad?

The long waited new iPad has been out for a few weeks. One of my friends also preordered his new toy and got it on the first day. I got a chance to play with it for a while. Many are asking me whether I am upgrading my iPad 2 to the latest generation since I upgraded to iPad 2 from iPad 1. After some careful thoughts, I decide to keep my iPad 2 in hand.

There are a few reasons for me to decide not to go for the upgrade. Of course these reasons may only be valid for some people. 

First, look at what is different from my iPad. The very first thing is the retina display with amazing resolution 2048*1536. There is no way for iPad 2 being on par with this. Text and pictures are crystal clear. Especially for photographers who likes to import and view their photos on iPad, this could be a huge bonus. However, I personally do feel that the iPad 2 screen is good enough since I do not read or watch the screen in that close distance like what I did with my iPhone 4.

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Combine Your Photos into Frames to Get a Better Look! - Introducing the App 'PicFrame'

Good morning everyone! It's Monday again. :( Hope you have had a great weekend spent with your family and friends! Oh, you got many photos about this weekend to share on Facebook and they are just too many to upload? Here is a small handy app that saves you out of this!

PicFrame is a small app that helps you to organize and combine your photo into frames so that it looks nicer and you also avoid uploading a huge pile of photos to Facebook or Flickr. It is both available on Mac and iOS devices. I personally use the Mac version of it but I guess many users would prefer the mobile version as they usually upload the photos on the go.

↑After launching the app, this is the first panel you will see. On the left side is the frame templates you can choose from, in total 34 different kinds of frames and it supports up to 5 photos in a single frame.

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Make Your Photos Movie-like/Vintage! - Tutorial on Photo Post-processing

Many of my friends now own a DSLR or at least a point-and-shoot camera. However, they often are not very satisfied with the picture they took. They complained that the photo is too plain or the landscape is simply not good enough. Actually, with some simple tricks, they can make the photo much more vivid and stunning. Today I'll share with you guys one technique I found most useful when editing my photos, especially for landscape.

↑Here is the before and after using the effect. This photo was taken in Xiamen, China when I visited the seaside at sunset. The photo looks not bad but is a bit too plain and dull. After applying the effect, the photo looks more outstanding with greater contrast, richer colors, and a more classic look, whether you like to call it movie-like or vintage.

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Organize Your Notes in an Aesthetic Way! - Hands-on of iOS app 'Paper'

Many of us nowadays have a tablet, either just for fun or for getting some serious work done. iPad from Apple is for sure the most popular choice for a tablet. I personally own an iPad 2 and I have enjoyed every bit of it. I use it for some casual readings before going to bed and sometimes for reading the lecture notes if I forgot to print. On the airplane, I can play some small lovely games to kill my time. Many people use iPad as a traditional notepad as well, for keeping their life organized. There are many apps out there that could simulate quite well like a real notepad. Today, I am going to introduce one of them, which is called "Paper".

 

One thing I like about Paper is that besides the regular features that other similar apps have, it has a more uniquely designed interface, which makes the note drawing more pleasant. Oh, did I mention that this app is free?

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Okay, the Very First Blog..

Hi, I am Cosmo Huang, currently a university student in my final year.

Having stayed in Singapore for more than five years, I find this city is really great for a digital zealot like me. Many people, from secondary school students to retired elderly people, are into this tech mania. They are changing their phones frequently, following the latest tech news, or bringing their DSLRs to shoot around the island. I could see all kinds of digital gadgets in the street, on the train and almost everywhere else. Every year there will be several IT shows that put up great deals and they never fail to attract a huge wave of people to come. Simply put, here is for sure a city that embraces the technology.

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